Marijuana laws vary widely on tribal lands

Marijuana law is already in flux and hard enough to follow, but it's even more so on local American Indian tribal land, according to Mendocino County Sheriff Tom Allman.

He held a round-table meeting last week with representatives from the county's seven tribes who live on 11 reservations and rancherias throughout the county. The discussion touched on several topics, and it was apparent that marijuana law is wildly inconsistent on tribal land.

"For every law that supports (the growth or use of) marijuana, there's another law that opposes it," Allman told attendees. "There is nothing you could do to be 100 percent in compliance."

He was referring not only to the dichotomy between federal law prohibiting marijuana completely and state law decriminalizing its use as a medicine, but to the varying policies the local tribes have regarding the plant.

As an example, the Hopland Band of Pomo Indians has a zero-tolerance policy for marijuana, disallowing its growth and use for any reason on its land.

That extends to the casino, which allows smoking inside its walls. Tribal representatives asked Allman about the possibility of putting up signs saying the casino doesn't recognize Proposition 215, the state's Compassionate Use Act of 1996, which allows the drug to be used as medicine. Allman said such decisions are up to each tribe's discretion.

At the other end of the spectrum is the Round Valley Band of Pomo Indians in Covelo, which allows each resident on tribal land to possess up to 30 plants. Allman said his office doesn't recognize that limit, but instead enforces state law and the county's cultivation ordinance. Each person with a doctor's recommendation to use marijuana can have up to 12 plants under the county's ordinance, with a 25-plant limit per parcel.

Allman said Wednesday that while his deputies respond frequently to tribal land for marijuana calls, he rarely eradicates grows with 25 to 30 plants, "unless it's a public nuisance."

Allman's department is the law enforcement authority on tribal land under federal Public Law 280, which is active in eight states, including California. Under the law, Allman's office enforces state law, as he does in the rest of the county.

Under the Tribal Law and Order Act, passed by Congress in December, tribes have the option of having their own police officers certified to enforce federal law on local tribal land. For a tribe to qualify, the U.S. Attorney's Office would have to find four things, according to Allman: that it would be best for public safety, that it would reduce response time to calls for service, that adequate jail facilities exist and that a court system is in place to handle cases.

"We're a long way from getting to the point where we have any tribes that meet those four criteria," Allman said.

Tiffany Revelle can be reached at udjtr@pacific.net, 468-3523 or @TiffanyRevelle on Twitter.